The Smith Miller Cemetery is the first burial place of the Millers of
Washington County Indiana. It is believed that both Adam Miller and his wife
Hannah Sheets are buried there although there are no markers for either of
them.

This property was once owned by Adam Miller;
it is the first Indiana land purchase, by the first American born Miller of
the bloodline. Adam purchased this property in 1830, his wife Hannah died 6
years later and she may have been the first to be buried there.

There was originally about 35 graves in the
cemetery and Hannah (Sheets) Miller was documented as the oldest grave there
in the 1940's. Many of the markers were not legible or missing even then so
others may have been buried there before her. The land became
the property of Adam and Hannah's daughter Elizabeth. She married Joel R.
Smith.

Originally this Cemetery was known as Miller
Cemetery. During the late 1880's the cemetery was known as the Smith
Cemetery, probably because there was more than one Miller Cemetery in the
area. This first name change occurred between the deaths of Adam (1851) and
his son David's wife,
Polly Miller (1894), where it is referred to as the Smith Cemetery in her
obituary. It was
called Smith's Miller Cemetery by some, and later became known as the
Smith-Miller Cemetery.

Obituaries Selected Newspapers of Washington County Indiana;

Volume III, page 251l

[The Democratic Sun, May 11, 1894, Beck’s Mill Items] –Mrs. Polly
Miller, one of our old pioneers, died at her home in this vicinity last
Sunday. She was about 80 years of age. Her remains were laid to rest
in the Smith Cemetery on Monday.

The Smith Miller Cemetery is in Howard
Township in Washington County Indiana. Getting there is quite a task as
there are no signs, roads or even beaten paths leading to it. The closest
roadway is
at the end of Baker Road, which is South of Beck's Mill. The cemetery is on land now
(2004) owned by a farmer, Mr. Elmer Burns of Salem Indiana. To get to the
Cemetery you must cross a gulley and several acres of farmed field; again, there
are no roads or even paths. In 2004 Elmer received a subsidy to let grass
grow in the field, making getting there possible when I took these pictures.
Mr. Burns lives on the left at the end of Baker road.

Click the Map for
close-up view

Getting there...

From HWY 135 take
Grandview Road until it becomes South Bud Miller Road, then go on to the end
of Baker Road.

Latitude 383056N
Longitude 0860914W Elevation 689 feet

Smith-Miller Cemetery is located in the northeast quarter of Section 14,
Township 1 North, Range 3 East

Washington County has a Cemetery Board that
was established around 30 years ago. The Smith Miller Cemetery had trees and
brush growing in it in the 1970's, but the Cemetery Board had it cleaned up
and has been taking care of it ever since. If you want to visit the cemetery
you may want to contact Mr.
Richard Dixon; he made these pictures possible.
(Thanks Mr. Dixon!)

There is no stone for Hannah (Sheets)
Miller, the wife of Adam Miller. She is listed as the oldest grave in the
Cemetery in the 1940's, and the cemetery caretaker can remember her stone as
being elaborate with shelves. Sometime in the past 30 years it has been
stolen from the property. She died in 1836 and her husband Adam died in
1851, but his stone has never been identified even though he died later than
his wife - who is listed as the oldest grave.

There is a sand stone rock that is embedded
in the ground just beyond the grave of David and Polly Miller, I believe it
is Adam's grave. It looks like someone took a sharp instrument and crudely
carved letters into the stone. I haven't been able to decipher it yet, but
to me it looks like it might say Adam Miller.

Graves recorded in 1942

Infant Miller- Father - Milton J.
Miller; Mother - Susan J Wingler

Ivy H. Miller- Father - Milton J. Miller;
Mother - Susan J Wingler

David M. Miller- Father David D.
Miller; Mother Mary C. Taylor

Matthew R. Miller- Father David D.
Miller; Mother Mary C. Taylor

Lillie M. Miller - Father Eli H Miller;
Mother Mary L. Ratts

Infant Miller - Father Eli H Miller;
Mother Mary L. Ratts

David Miller Jr - Husband of Mary Taylor

Mary Catherine Miller - Wife of David Miller Jr

David Miller Sr. - Husband of Mary Richardson

Mary "Polly" Miller - Wife of David Miller Sr

Hannah Miller - Wife of Adam Miller

Infant Sill - Father Jesse Sill; Mother Mary Miller

Nannie Smith- Father Henry Smith; Mother Annie Taylor

Joel Smith- Husband of Elizabeth Miller

Elizabeth Smith - Wife of Joel Smith

William A. Smith - Father Joel Smith; Mother Elizabeth Miller

Henry F. Smith - Father Joel Smith; Mother Elizabeth Miller

Lydia F. Smith - Wife of Henry F. Smith

Annie E. Smith - Daughter of David and Nancy Taylor

David Taylor

Nancy Taylor

The Taylors here are related to the Millers by marriage. Dave Miller Jr.
(David D Miller and grandson of Adam) married Mary Taylor, the sister to
David Taylor.

David Taylor and his wife Nancy are both buried at Smith Miller Cemetery.
I haven't figured out how their daughter Annie Smith, who is also buried at
Smith Miller Cemetery too, was a Smith and not a Taylor. The Sill infant is
the grandchild of Dave and Polly Miller. So the Millers, the Smiths, the
Sills, and the Taylors are all family, but not necessarily to each other.

David D. Miller and David Taylor were brother in laws, but that is David
Taylor's only familial relationship. Dave and Nancy Taylor may have wanted
to be buried near their daughter Annie, who died before them and was buried
at Smith Miller Cemetery.

There are several children and infants laid to rest at Smith Miller
Cemetery.

Nobody has been buried at the Smith Miller Cemetery since 1908, and it
went several years in deterioration before Washington County cut out the
brush and trees in the 1970's. Washington County has done very good job
maintaining it since.

My dad and uncles have gone their whole lives never knowing about the
Smith Miller Cemetery and the Miller story. It was a special moment when I
first walked on the cemetery grounds, to be so close to a family history
that dates back to 1830, to walk the same ground my ancestors walked 175
years ago, often very sadly.

In 2005 I contacted the U.S. Department of Interior - Geographic
Names Information Survey (GNIS), concerning the official name of the
cemetery. It was known only as the Smith Cemetery and I requested that the
name be updated. It has officially been renamed the "Smith Miller Pioneer
Cemetery". It will carry the alternate names of Smith-Miller Cemetery,
Smith's Miller Cemetery, Smith Cemetery, and Miller Cemetery so that it will
be easy to locate regardless of what it is called in the records you may
have. The updates to the government's record should take place sometime in
February 2006.

Above: The
Entrance Gate to the Smith Miller Cemetery. It is on the right side of the
cemetery, near the edge of the Blue River Bluff. The corner stone
inscription says "J. S. & C. P. Miller".

Above: Mary
"Polly" Miller and David Miller. The Blue River is on the Left.

Above:
David Miller, his nephew William Smith, and Sister Elizabeth Smith.

Below: The
Blue River looking down the bluff from the Smith Miller Cemetery.

Above:
Concrete fence post. A field to the Left, the Blue River to the Right.

Above: In
Smith Miller Cemetery looking out. Blue River to Left.

Below: Blue
River Bluff is straight ahead.

Below:
Polly Miller, David Miller, William Smith, Elizabeth Smith, Joel R. Smith.
The Entrance and the Blue River Bluff is straight ahead. These are the
Smiths and the Millers for which the cemetery is named. Adam Miller is their
father and father-in-law.

Below: Joel
R. Smith, Elizabeth Smith, David Miller and Polly Miller.

The Smith Miller Cemetery is the family of Adam and Hannah
Sheets Miller. After Hannah died Adam moved in with his daughter Elizabeth
Smith and her husband Joel. They are the name sakes of the Smith Miller
Cemetery.

What you do for
yourself dies when you do, but what you do for others lives on as your
legacy.

Les Brown

This information
is the research of many people across the United States and may contain
errors. It is presented as the best information to date. Like all of those
whose work I have incorporated herein, my research is a work in progress
and subject to change without notice. A special thanks to Marlene Ricci of
CA, Dwayne Meyer of CA, Jacqueline Bean of TX, Debbie Dick of IN, Milus
Miller of IL, Carol Hendricks Miller of IN, Clarence Miller of IN, and
Harold Glen Miller of IN. There are numerous others too; many of which are
unknown, but their findings and stories are still much appreciated.
Much of this would not have been possible with out their information. Also
this website includes historical facts gathered from Washington County
History, Indiana History, Rowan County and Salisbury North Carolina
Historical sources and other US Historical sources.